Hi, I see several people making 3D signature signs with writing from their loved ones. When I try this the writing is skinny and my machine does not cut it out correctly. I am new to this machine like a day old. Please help by giving me advice on how to do this process. The steps would be appreciated if you could walk me thru them! Thank you so much
Signed
HELP
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Your machine will cut exactly what you tell it to.
You need to learn the basics of design using the software you have chosen, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of web sites and youtube videos out there covering all of the commonly used design applications.
For something as simple as text, you need to select a suitable font that will work with the material you have chosen. Again, there are thousands of choices out there, many more suitable for cutting from solid material than others. Then use your software to produce a suitable output file, which often involves learning how to convert text to paths, joining into a single “object” suitable for cutting - again, something each application approaches a little bit differently.
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The machines as noted will take the work of an artist with basic skills in Inkscape and Gimp (or several programs sold for professionals) and produce work without them being masters of the mechanics of electronic equipment or computer programming. It will even take a scan of their artwork and cut that out.
There are still limits as you have discovered in the viability of the results that the normal handwriting is too thin to use and much that you see that looks like handwriting are well-designed typesetting fonts put together by very specialized experts, paying attention to factors most folks never think about.
Inkscape and Gimp are free of any monetary cost, but even the most expensive programs are not much better in the expense of the effort it takes to learn them. As noted there are hundreds of Youtube videos and other sources with ideas of how things could be accomplished in those programs and some knowledge of that and the work in the material of your choice are the preprocessing and post-processing that are beyond the scope of the Glowforge itself.
Before buying my own Glowforge I had never seen anything about Inkscape beyond the name, but in the months waiting for the Glowforge I spent playing with it and discovering more of what it can do and how, but even two years on I am still learning new stuff about it as late as last week.
It is an adventure of great fun, and even profit but you have to go on the adventure to find them.
Welcome to the forum.
Any project that involves someone’s handwriting is going to begin with the trace function or scanning the handwriting and getting it into a graphics program where it can be resized and manipulated. Perhaps you could provide a photo that you have seen that shows what you hope to accomplish.
Also, work through some Glowforge tutorials so you have a good working knowledge of your machine and its capabilities. You will need to understand some basics so you can avail yourself of the helpful tips people will provide to you.
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Thank you, I have the glowforge basic . I will try this
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Did you ever have any luck? I am wanting to turn a handwritten note from my late father father in-law into a 3D cut out for my mom in law. Please help if you have any tips on making the writing able to be cut out.
K.
There is a lot about design that you will need to know before you can get a good result that was more than luck. At this point I have not had occasion to do free standing text but stepping through the commands available in Inkscape and Gimp can give you ideas that you can go to those to get where you are going. 
So you want don’t want to engrave the handwriting? You want to make it larger and cut the outline of the writing as you would with a sign and a script font, but use the original handwriting?
It would be a two step process of using something like GIMP or Photoshop to sharpen the edges of the handwriting to get something you can trace out. Depending on the sample and the result of the bitmap manipulation, you might be able to get a good trace that will give you some cut vectors. You will still have to deal with crossing over, counters, cutouts and such. Lots of manual work.
The above referenced topic about the heirloom cutting board will give you some indication of the initial work with the scan of the handwriting that is needed even before you start thinking of making a vector for cutting.
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Hi, we want to cut the handwriting out as a 3D.So make it larger.
There is a lot about design that you will need to know before you can get a good result that was more than luck. At this point I have not had occasion to do free standing text but stepping through the commands available in Inkscape and Gimp can give you ideas that you can go to those to get where you are going